HalfAsleep
by ensngre
Summary: [HanaNaru] Naruto and Hinata are going to get married against their will. Are they willing to submit? What about Hanabi?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Half-Asleep

by

ensngre

"Do you have any idea what this might be about, Hinata?" Naruto asked his silver-eyed companion, both dressed in formal attires, walking down the main-house of the massive estate that belonged to the clan of the Hyuugas.

"None whatsoever, Naruto-san," her lean voice answered, shaking her head a little. "But this _is_ strange… we've never been called to a meeting together, have we?" Puzzlement evident in her voice, and glancing toward the slightly taller boy, looking for answers not to the question, but to the situation itself.

"No, we haven't…" He mumbled. _Something that has to do with my father, Hinata, myself… and apparently the Hyuuga-clan as a whole… political matters can be handled by father and Hiashi-sama… and to some extent, Hinata too, being heiress. That singles me out. _

Glancing back to Hinata, not having noticed _her_ glance until now, he frowned. _Perplexing, indeed. _"I'm sorry, I'm about as bewildred as you are, Hinata." They walked another tensome steps, up to the second-highest-ranking of Hiashi-sama's retainers, Guime, who sat kneeled in front of the slide-door leading into the official meeting-space.

"Naruto-sama, Hinata-sama," he said, bringing his head to the floor in a bow, then recorrected himself. "Please step right in," and slided the white-papered door to the right, allowing them to step inside, and closed it shut again.

When the door shut close, Naruto and Hinata had already made half-way through the room to their seats. Verpych, the most senior of the servant-staff and highest-ranking one, was seated on Hiashi's left side, along the wall, and motioned the two youngsters to sit down.

They obeyed the old, stubby man, and sat down. Naruto glanced at his father from the corner of his eyes; then to the other man, who held himself with a certain degree of seniority and superiority; then took on a pleading look to Verpych, who only shook his head, revealing nothing.

Refixing his gaze upon his father, he asked the question that had been on his mind the last couple of hours. "What is this meeting about, father, Hiashi-sama?" The relatively old men exchanged what could be interpreted as being amused glances.

His father answered almost immediately. "You both are seventeen. That age is considered to be the age when one is mature enough to… engage oneselves in relationships," oh god, he hated already where this was going. _Stop talking in riddles, you know how much I hate them_, Naruto thought, knowing _exactly_ how hard it could be talking to his old man.

Luckily enough, Hiashi-sama on the other hand, was a man which was direct from the beginning. "Hinata-chan, Naruto-san, me and Arashi-sama has been discussing about what to do about you two. We wish you to get married." Naruto thought he saw his father glaring daggers at the older man, for destroying his attempt to annoy the shit out of his son. Well, knowing his father better than anyone else, that wasn't _entirely_ out of character.

Something about the last statement touched and broke something in his head. _Marriage?_

"Marriage! Have you gone COMPLETELY nuts, Otousan!" Hinata spurted out, first one to utter something after the short silence that had followed earlier. _Poor old Verpych, he looks as if he saw a ghost. Well, Hinata _is _quite reserved when dealing with family-members… still, this might be too great a shock for Verpy. I wonder if I should call the hospital?_

"Hi-hinata…" Her father stuttered, looking stunned, almost offended. Naruto smirked, as did his own father, looking amused at the same time. _Marriage, hmm? No wonder she's mad._ He sighed, and closed his eyes. _I should worry more about myself… Kankuro's going to _explode_ when he hears about this_, he thought, letting out a snicker at the thought of an angry face-painted Sand-puppeteer. _Bah… he doesn't have the guts to kill the Fourth's son._

Returning back to the situation at hand, he found Hinata waging war against her own father. And _his_ blonde-headed idiot-excuse-for-a-father gazing cooly at him. He returned the gaze even more cooly, challenging. They stayed liked that, neither backing down, until they noticed Hinata bursting out of the room, followed by a flustering Verpych, and the heavy sighs that one certain Hiashi let out.

Rubbing his templates and chins, he turned toward the two sunlights. "She'll accept it in due time…" he said sluggishly, and drifted away to a world where there were no parents and no children and no duties and no clan and no-one except himself, and secretly wished that so were the case in his real world too, so that he could concentrate solely on the art of _dreaming_.

But life never was that simple for Hyuuga Hiashi.

**Author's Notes**

Okay, I got inspired from a Swedish movie called _Jalla! Jalla! _(arabic for Hurry! Hurry!)

That movie's great. I seriously mean it. "Roro, a foreign worker in Swedish parks, loves his girlfriend but is about to marry another girl to prevent her from being sent back to Lebanon." Haha, Josef Fares is so goddamn good in that role! Funniest Swedish movie I've seen in my life. Well, er, enough about that…

It's an entire "new" setting. There were a Fourth World War (in which Naruto participated), the Uchiha-clan were _not_ slaughtered, Itachi's a good boy… The Fourth is alive with his son Naruto… he somehow managed to seal the Nine-Tails in Naruto without losing his own life (don't know if I'll get around to explain that part; it doesn't seem relevant to me), Naruto's well-respected by most of the population of Konoha… well, more of all that in later chapters. And no, there is no Akatsuki and no evil Orochimaru. No overhanging evil force in this story, no, which means there won't be any fights. At all, I believe. Except love-quarrels. Maybe. Perhaps. There's a slim chance…

Last thing, this was a _really_ short chapter, and not _really_ interesting. Give the story another chance with the next chapter.

…or I'll **_kill_** you! Just kidding. (not)

Seriously, though.


	2. Chapter 01

**Chapter 01**

Half-Asleep

by

ensngre

Sasuke stared at him. And started laughing! "What's so fun! Huh! Care to tell me that!" Naruto growled, trying to kill his old companion with his glaring. _Goddamn abomination, you…_

Luckily enough, Sasuke stopped laughing after a while, because the dark-haired prodigy knew himself that a laughing Sasuke were _not_ appropriate in such a situation as this. He silenced himself, shook his head and sighed; returned to the matter of eating up the _delicious_ cup of pork ramen – as Naruto usually stated that it was – but this was certainly no usual scenario. Of course, he'd been through this himself a four-or-so times, but he knew that his own father and mother combined were more tolerating than Naruto's own father. And that was saying a lot. "So, how's Hanabi reacting to this?" He smirked, barely able to supress another wave of laughter that so desperately wanted to form in his throat. A chuckle got out.

Naruto stopped in his tracks, appearing to be thinking and reconsidering, before picking up the eating (with chopsticks) again. "I don't know… haven't met her in nearly three weeks." He mumbled. It didn't surprise Sasuke, the weird affection one of the most well-known ninjas in the world and the _very_ young but incredibly talented Hyuuga had for each other was known only in their closest circle of friends.

They all knew they loved each other, but it was weird that they weren't together more often. It seemed as though there was no desire or lust between the two, but at the same time, both of them had a burning obsession for one another. It contrasted oddly in Sasuke's eyes. "And you're not going to see her?" Sasuke asked, already knowing the answer and the real answer behind it.

Naruto shrugged. _Heh, as expected… you're so predictable when it comes to Hanabi, Naruto._ "I don't want to. Don't need to…" But he did. Every waking hour, he thought about her. Sometimes, he became angry at himself for being so fucking stupid. The worst part of it wasn't that he _was_ stupid, but it was that he was _aware_ of it and yet did nothing to calm his nerves. He could break down within minutes, even when knowing he could be rebuild just by looking at her. He guessed that somewhere in the core of his being, he liked, no, _loved_ pain. Especially when coming to matters regarding her, and _especially_ if it were self-inflicted – like the times he lied to himself, creating fantasies in which she hurt him badly. Sometimes, not occuring often, he enlightened himself that she had never hurt him in any way. And that she probably never would.

Sasuke sighed again. Naruto had always neglected encouragement from others, even from his own Hanabi. He was stubborn, if he was sad or even suicidal, he would be in that mood until he decided to stop with it. "If you say so," Sasuke answered to the blonde's previous attempt of lying – which had failed badly, there were only two people in the _world_ that knew exactly when the popular shinobi lied, and that was Sasuke and his elder brother. Changing subject, "are you occupied tomorrow, Naruto?" His blonde companion shrugged, only half-listening. He was in his own world, the world of thoughts. He needed to be interrupted. "Or are you heading out to buy a ring and suit?" Sasuke smirked, again. But it worked.

"What the hell are you talking about? Sasuke, have you gone mad? I'm _not_ marrying Hinata," Naruto answered after being snapped out of his thoughts, obviously missing the point.

"I repeat; are you occupied tomorrow noon?" Taking a serious but casual expression on his face, clearly declaring that there would be no more half-witted attempts of teasing the slightly younger _young man_. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"No, I wouldn't think so…" He began, getting a little interested. "How come?"

Sasuke smirked _once again_, proving once and for all that he was the (in)famous Smirking-san that Naruto himself had named him so many years ago. "Itachi-nii got challenged by a team of some rather cocky Stone-nins yesterday. Apparently, they're a new team integrated in the Five Clover Peace-program," he said, smirk slightly shrinking and eyes narrowing; a look of excitement. "According to aniki, they seemed quite skilled. They were very eager to see the _Mitsukado_."

Naruto put up a _very_ amused smile. "_That_ formation?" Naruto chuckled a bit, closing his eyes and crossed his arms, straigthened his back, and said, "If that's the case, I'll make myself available tomorrow." He opened his left eye, and looked to his long-time friend that sat on the same side of the counter in the ramen-stand, and smirked. "Can't decline to kicking some Stone-nins asses, can we?" And the two burst out in manical laughters, something that wasn't rare whenever one of the famous Uchiha-siblings came in contact with Yondaime's legacy.

* * *

Naruto walked down the not-too-busy streets of Konoha; there was some public holiday that he couldn't recall the name of. Most people either still slept, somehow stayed inside, or was visiting the many hot-springs Konoha was famous for. 

But some people never, ever changed, and preferred to treat all days as normal. One such man was Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sensei! Behind you!" Naruto shouted out, and the snake-like man stopped and turned around; when he spotted the blonde, the same blonde took out his right hand out of his pocket and waved a small and anonymous wave.

When Naruto had catched up, the pale-skinned old man greeted him. "Why, Naruto-kun. Long time, no see." He never was friendly and made the conversations as short as possible, even when coming to the top-ninja Konoha had ever in their history produced. He admitted; he had been a bit jealous of the young ones massive potential, but that was in the past. Although he would never admit it to anyone, he admired him in some way or another. And he felt quite proud that he'd been one of his few teachers over the years, even though he hadn't gotten that much time to train him as he wished he would have. Anko still had that childish rivalty with the blonde, having her teacher almost taken away from her years ago by the said blonde.

But he knew the admiration was mutual. The young man had respect for his elders. Orochimaru knew this, and almost chuckled whenever he was treated with more respect than the blonde heeded to the white-haired Sannin. Oh yes, Naruto had been a joker when dealing with Jiraiya.

Naruto smiled. "Was the mission to the Mist successful, sensei?" He asked, not having seen his ex-teacher for months. He was happy to see the face which many thought of being creepy.

Orochimaru half-grinned. "Do you have such confidence in me, that you're questioning whether or not I was capable of completing the mission? Naruto-kun," he mocked. He, best of all, knew Naruto's weaknesses. Even better than his own father did, probably. That was a trait, and a trait he was proud to have been given. The boy had been monstruous in power and blistering with intelligence when he was handed to the snake-sannin the first time, but he had many flaws, far too many for a good shinobi. Orochimaru had been the one to polish that fine diamond until perfection, something Jiraiya hadn't been able to do. He had only been able to carve it out of the massive mountain that had once surrounded the blonde. He seriously doubted that Naruto's father would've done a better job, and he was proud of that, too, being able to surpass the super-genious that was the Fourth Hokage in _some_ aspect.

"Of course not!" Naruto spatted out. And decided to give him a little of his own medicine… "But I confess that I _was_ a bit worried about you, sensei," and, seeing his former teacher grit his teeths, formed a smirk of victory. "Anyway, I'm on my way of meeting up with the Uchiha-brothers. Some stupid Stone-nins challenged Itachi two days ago, and he wants _revenge_…" Now, that would stir the Sannin. Itachi was pretty much a rival to Orochimaru of the same caliber, if not higher, than his other rival, the toad-sannin. For some reason, neither Itachi nor Jiraiya was interested to fight one another; that was the extent of their distaste for each other. Meaning, the two's strengths couldn't be compared, as they had never had a fight. Which pissed Orochimaru off, because the last match between himself and the Uchiha-prodigy had ended with a loss on his part. "I take it you want to come and see the _Sanjuusou_ in action?"

"Well, that would certainly be entertaining. Death-match?" he joked. Or, Naruto wasn't too sure if he joked or not – the Sannin had a tendency to be rather sadistic at times. But deep down, he was a good man, Naruto knew this.

"…no death-match." Naruto shrugged, and put his hands up in the air. "They're a new team in the FCP-program. We'll be in some deep shit if we were to kill them." Yeah. The FCP-program would be severly damaged if something like that happened, after little more than five years of World Peace. And besides, Naruto didn't like killing people. Orochimaru decided that it wouldn't be worth his time, after all.

* * *

"Whaaaaat?" Naruto was surprised. "Is that you? Deidara? You were one of the Stone-nins?" _Shit, if it's true, then this'll get far too dangerous for a mere sparring-match. He'll blow us to pieces._

"Well, it seems like it… mm." Deidara said, seemingly bored. "Master Sasori sends his deepest condolescences, yeah?" Still in the same, bored, monotone voice.

Naruto paused for a little. _Condolescences for what?_ "Hey, wait a minute. No-one's died." He looked puzzled. Well, he always was, when dealing with either Deidara or Sasori, or more so with both.

"Oh. Well, I'll tell him that, yeah," he said. No-one understands creative minds. "Well, then, I'll get out of the way. I didn't bring any high-quality clay with me, anyway, mm." And backed off.

* * *

Somewhere in the vincinity of the fight between one of the most hailed three-man team of Konoha and an incomplete six-man team from the Stone, three ordinary Genins sparred against each other, being watched by their Jounin-teacher.

Wrong. Those Genins weren't ordinary. They were the top-team that managed to graduate from the Ninja-academy two years ago, and high expectations were held to them. Well, they _were_ the third top-students of their generation in Konoha, and the team had been put together because of the lack of outstanding teams in the higher ranks of lately.

"Pick up the pace, Ibara." The Jounin excluded to one of the genins, a girl with shoulder-long hair and a bleak bandana covering her forehead. She nodded, and pushed back a boy named Utatane, but which later led to being cornered to a tree by a girl with waist-long pitch-black hair and white, creamy eyes. The girl smirked, marking that defeat had been brought upon the slightly taller girl, which had the tree just behind her back.

Suddenly, five figures came flying through the bushes that surrounded the Seventh Training Ground in Konoha, in which the three Genins just had ended their spar. The figures were that of two females and three males, all of whom at least surpassed the age of 20. The three Genins looked to their Jounin-teacher, confusion plastered on their faces, and getting into their respective defensive-stances.

After the five (which now lay scattered on the ground), came three well-known shinobis, walking out of the same patch of broken bushes that the men before them had crashed through, creating an arrow-formation, with a blonde guy in the lead, and two dark-haired men following after at each side, a manlength behind. The younger of the two dark-haired men had his mouth curled up in a smirk, the other two looked bored, but somehow content in a weird sort of way. Eventually, they stopped, and after a while, they stepped forward to the fallen ninjas, and helped them up while exchanging comments with each other.

Moments after, something shadowed the entire training-area, appearing in the sky. It descended, and it soon became clear that it was a bird – or, more correctly, a flying bird-statue/model. And there was an eccentric-looking man standing on top of it. Most people wouldn't know it was a man, but Hanabi had somehow learned how to extinguish the gender of humans, because of some rather feminime-looking cousins.

"Absolutely disgraceful, yeah," the weird, blonde man said after hopping down from the bird to the ground. One of the battered and exhausted Jounin's, judging by their jackets, spoke up with almost no dignity left.

"Ca-captain…" But he was interrupted by the blonde.

"Get up on _Yuucyou_," he ordered. When they had done that, he got up himself and took off with the bird and the Jounin's, flying to the hospital of Konoha without saying goodbye. The two black-haired Leaf-companions both followed the bird with their eyes, before it was gone, when the younger one sighed and disappeared, leaving only smoke behind. The older disappeared no longer than half a second after, he too leaving a cloud of smoke behind.

Now, the unbruised blonde, one Jounin and his students were the only ones left in the area.

"Uh…" Naruto began, scratching his head and feeling his head heat up slightly. "Heya, Hanabi-koi." Silence ensued, and Naruto started to regret that he let that suffix let out. _Curse me and my stupid clumsiness._

The bandana-girl, evidently named Ibara, was the first one to speak up. "Koushoku-sama…!" The members of the famous trio _Sanjuusou_ (consisting of Yondaime-sama's son, and the two genius brothers of the Uchiha) had all gotten nicknames. His were the color of Yellow, and he hated it. He had inherited the color, somewhat, from his father. Everyone that didn't know him personally usually called him that. He frowned.

The girl was surprised, looking at her talented team-mate with a look that was asking for explanation of how she knew one of her biggest idols, and one of the legendary _Sanjuusou_'s. Hanabi noted Ibara's expression, and her cheeks became a light tone of pink. _Damn you, Naruto…_ She looked directly at Naruto, either seeking for help or for something that could help her confirm that it really _was_ him.

That was one of the things that Naruto was attracted to her for. She would always look people directly in their faces, not budging an inch, whatever the situation was. She didn't hide like other girls when confronted to something that made them feel vurnable or just something that they didn't understood or something that gave them uneasy feelings. He knew that this was quite uneasy for her, she wasn't insensitive or anything of the sort, but she _didn't budge_, just locked her incredibly beautiful eyes with his.

"I…" Her thin lips started, not letting the embarrassment reach her voice. She would handle this calmly, she told herself, not lose it, and…

"We're dating," Naruto suddenly said. Upon receiving the chocked look Hanabi had painted on her small face-frame, he shrugged. "What? It would come out _sooner_ or later." Silence ensued once again, and it lasted a few seconds, before her weird team-mate just popped and fainted, dropping to the ground. Naruto closed his eyes and sighed.

* * *

"Was that really necessary, Naruto?" The feeble girl asked. No, she wasn't feeble… but she became that whenever she were around the blonde. She didn't _want_ to look strong in front of him, afraid that if she were to show any sign of her not needing him (for protection or other), he would leave her. And she _did_ need him, more than anything else. No-one really knew how dependent she was on him. Not even himself, or her elder sister, for that sake. She was _nothing_ without him, she told herself, and part of that was true.

Naruto shrugged. "What does it matter? I'm sorry if I screwed up for you, but what's done is done. There's no meaning to ponder on it any further. You should know this." She did. Naruto knew that she was far more mature and understanding of the world than her peers. She reminded him a little of himself when he was that age. So mature and so powerful, but yet so vurnable.

"You didn't screw things up for me, Naruto…" She answered, not wanting him to misunderstand. The young man was a super-genius, much more so than his father, and had played a vital role in the Fourth World War – but he really was dumb when it came to reading other peoples intentions, or feelings. Just one word misplaced in a sentence could have dire consequences. It was tiring for her, to the point where she would just like to forget it all. But it was worth it, worth everything. She could sell her soul to the devil to just be with him, and she would still consider it to be a good decision. "But you should worry more about yourself… I trust my team, but Ibara-san admires you, and even if I begged her not say anything, she wouldn't be able to hold it in." She paused, studied him and put on a sad look and started to look down at the road they were walking in, something she almost never did. She always used to look in his face. "I'm hindering you… can't you see?"

Naruto looked at her, uncertain of what to do. He felt a growing pain in his chest, choking him, making him feel weak and worthless. "Wh-what do you mean?" He was tired of being stupid, but asking was the only thing he could do, even though he knew it was taking quite a toll on both of them.

"I'm always in the way… I don't understand." She sagged, looking even smaller and weaker than she had been just before. "Why are you with such a kid as me? There's a lot in the higher ranks that like you… even you can't be oblivious to that." She didn't let him counter before she spoke again, with tears flowing down her small slender cheeks. "I'm not really someone you could brag about, am I…? Heh… I suppose not…" And she walked away from him, fingers clasping fingers, still shedding tears.

Naruto could only watch.

**Authors notes**

Okay, as for the "promise" not to have any "fights", this was an exception. Besides, it really didn't count as a fight, does it? And, err, expect more exceptions in the future. Count on it.

And goooood_daaaaaamn_, my sense of romance is corny. You'll be seeing a lot of that in the future, too. That's a promise.


	3. Chapter 02

**Chapter 02**

Half-Asleep

by

ensngre

"Naruto… you don't look too well," Neji said, concern obvious in his deep voice. He had been one of the first to know of the arranged marriage between his cousin and the blonde boy he'd fought so many times beside. Neji, like many others, had been called out for duty when the last years of the Fourth World War was on-going. Being merely ten years old, he didn't amount to much. He and his team, along with their instructor, had moved from camp to camp in the war – being reinforcement and support was a duty with no rest.

He had heard stories, many incredible and many more impossible ones. One of the pros of being transferred so much, was the vast amount of information they got in contact with. He was fascinated with the stories, even though he knew that most of them was only created to heighten the morality of the forces. The stories, or legends, had varied greatly from camp to camp, but there was some that were vaguely alike – like the stories about the victories that the three Sannin's had brought the Leaf, or of a group named the _Sanjuusou_ that consisted of war-veterans, that had greatly benefitted the later outcome of the war. Like the name proposed, the legendary team consisted of three persons. Few stories was told about the actual members of that team (or group, if you will), but rather the admirable feats that they had accomplished.

One day, he and his team had been assigned to one of the most creditable camps the Leaf's had – which was under the supreme-command of the ingenious Orochimaru of the Three – and which had been given the code-name Salamander. It wasn't large, in fact it was a camp only slightly beyond the normal size – it contained roughly about 175 shinobis. Some argued that it was their close teamwork that made them the best of the best. They had completed about 30 medium-large-scale assaults, which had required about 75 of the forces. Death-rates were _far_ below normal, only having lost 40 brave soldiers in half-a-year. It was an _honor_ to become a part of Salamander's wheel.

The stories about the incredibly powerful snake-sannin had only been a little intimidating in comparasion to actually having met the man. He was frighetening, seniority and the incredible pressure he radiated had been giving him the shivers. Neji had been sincerely happy that he had been an ally, not an enemy. It was shortly after he met the legendary _Sanjuusou_'s, the admired, respected and heroic Konoha Shinobis that could replace fear in the hearts of everyone in the bloodshedded battlefield with courage in an instant.

"You think so? Neji…" Naruto half-answered the statement, appearing to be looking through the layers of air and clouds out to space, from where he lay on the grass in one of the beautiful green parks of Konoha. He, like the best upcoming strategist of the Leaf, Shikamaru, liked to watch the sky. From time to time. But only when he was sorrowful. He had done that a few times in the War, Neji had seen.

Neji sighed. He couldn't do a thing to make the situation better for his blonde friend – Hinata-sama had already occupied Hiashi-sama with complaints about the marriage (he hadn't gotten a free moment in weeks, and for that, Neji was glad – it served him right, that old-timer), it was impossible to actually cheer him up, so he didn't try that – and for the matter regarding his younger cousin, well… it wouldn't do to force them to see each other, or to try to talk some sense into either of them. None knew what had really happened between them, as they were quite secretive about it. So Neji couldn't do anything other than reminiscence.

A few days after he and his team had been instated in the Salamander-camp, the shinobis had started talk about the _Sanjuusou_'s. Apparently, they had been on a mission that had started before him coming there, and the members of the camp had been starting to take bets on when they would re-arrive and in which shape they would be in. This was surprising to him, because even though they were supposed to be a legendary group, no-one he'd ever met in that terrible war had been making _bets_ on mission-related situations. It was simply too disrespectful, it was against all the unwritten rules he had come to learn in the half-year/year he had been enlisted.

But none seemed to take offence from it – because, he noticed, no-one ever even _questioned_ whether or not the mission would be successful. It was just a matter of time before they arrived back to camp, for them.

They did come back to camp, not unharmed, but no serious wounds had appeared on either three of them. The shortest one, in fact, had none at all. His clothes was ripped in some places, indicating that he'd been hit. But there were no wounds, or even scars. That puzzled him. What puzzled him even more, had been the age of the three. They were supposed to be _legendary_, for fucks sake! War-heroes, war-_veterans_, he had heard! Two of them didn't look to be older than himself, and the third one was around 13, he had guessed. They were _children_.

But when they came sauntering, cheers was heard, and they were lifted up by the Salamander's and carried around, exactly like _war-heroes_. And the mood before, which was unusually high, was carried into even greater heights. If Neji would've been mad, he would've said they were happy. And that itched him off, because _no-one_ – not you, your friends or even your enemy – _no-one _was supposed to be happy in times like these. It was just wrong, and it had disgusted him at first.

He had picked up that the mission was to take down a low-sized enemy-camp, which was about 75-100 members (if he hadn't totally forgotten the lessons at the academy). And they had succeeded. That was unheard of, it was ridicilous; three men, _boys_, against a whole low-sized camp? He couldn't believe it even if he saw it. He had tried to gather courage to go ask one of the boys if this was true, and somehow had managed to – he had asked the blonde-haired little boy, and he had only gotten a tiny little smile for an answer. And as destiny had decided to be kind to him, he had stayed in the Salamander for the rest of the war, and had enjoyed peace ever since.

* * *

"Naruto…" ((mmm…)) "Hey, Naruto… you gotta get up, man…" ((…mmppphhhh…)) "Okay, if you don't move your _sorry_ ass out of your bed _RIGHT FUCKEN NOW_, I'll fucken make Kuroari trap you and make you a bloody MESS!" Naruto, sensing danger, shot up from his bead, sitting right up. 

Or at least he tried to.

Kankuro was positioned on top of him, and held his hands around his throat, trying to strangle him. And he was pretty damn well succeeding, too. "Ka… Kankuro…" Naruto managed to get out. "Y… You… You'll strangle me." He tried to gasp for air.

"Yeah, that's EXACTLY what I'm trying to do here! What, you thought I didn't have the _guts_ to kill you, just because you're Hokage-sama's SON, you bastard!" Naruto tried to answer. He really did. Tried as best he could.

He got out one word. A strained, "no…" Then he had a flashback.

_/Marriage, hmm? No wonder she's mad._ He sighed, and closed his eyes. _I should worry more about myself… Kankuro's going to _explode_ when he hears about this_, he thought, letting out a snicker at the thought of an angry face-painted Sand-puppeteer. _Bah… he doesn't have the guts to kill the Fourth's son./_

…Damnit. "I-I mean, yes, I did," he said, after having been able to force the puppeteers hands off of his throat for a little while. He thought it might've relieved the puppeteer, but it _didn't_. On the contrary, he made it even worse; the grip on his throat just increased… _Will this be the end!_ He thought to himself (and to any higher entity that might hear him). Fortunately for him, the grim reaper didn't want his shitty soul that day.

Because in came Temari storming, storming to his aid! His very own guardian angel. He thought he spotted a pair of white wings and a halo on her – but it was probably due to the excess of blood that had flowed into his head. He didn't reconsider that option, though, and started saying a prayer that should've sounded something like _O, pure-white angel, have thee come to take thy away from the almighty lords kingdom?_, but it didn't come out that way, as the blood still hadn't made it's way through the head. It sounded more like random… sputterings, mumblings… well, that's irrelevant.

Fuck, having a murderous, vicious puppeteer on top of you first thing in the morning isn't an ideal waking-up. There ain't no justice in this world no more.

* * *

"So, how's your day been, Naruto?" Itachi asked him, biting on an apple, generally looking disinterested. Which he was most of the time. 

"Well, _excluding_ the assassination-attempt on me by a hot-headed freak in face-paint, and _excluding_ all the nagging I've got from most of the population of this village because word came out yesterday that I'm going out with a Hyuuga far younger than myself, it's… it's been great." Naruto sighed. "Oh, and I almost forgot to _exclude_ one particular sparring-match between me and my father, w-h-i-c-h I completely and utterly LOST." Naruto banged his head in the table simultaneously with the last word, that was located somewhere deep in the Uchiha-compound, in the head-familys house.

Sasuke leaned forward to his elder brother, and whispered into his ear. "I think we shouldn't ask him those things." Itachi answered, whispering too.

"…why not?"

Sasuke sighed. His brother and Naruto were equally dumb on that point; not being able to read other people. Itachi _could_ understand Naruto if he wanted to and concentrated enough on it – but it seemed as though he didn't really care at that moment. "Because," lowering his voice further, "when he's like this, he's suicidal."

Itachi seemed to ponder, eyes looking slightly up and eyebrows knitted, and then took on his normal, neutral expression. "So? … Sasuke, don't tell me you don't think we can stop him. Let's just play around with him, for now."

Sasuke just stared at his older brother, not believing he would joke about something like that. "No. We won't. You quit." Itachi sighed, admitting defeat, and put down his half-eaten apple on the table, and laid down. Sasuke glared at him with crossed arms, and said, "and eat up the apple." Itachi snorted, but obeyed.

* * *

"You really have no guilt when it comes to Sasuke, do you?" Naruto asked his companion on the left of him, walking down the road leading to the biggest hot-spring area in the neighborhood. Itachi had proposed going there, just to be away from his little brother. He could be a real nag at times. 

He shrugged. "Should I have? Little brother's are made for torturing," the long-haired pigtailed man answered, keeping a steady view of the road ahead, ignoring the whisperings and looks of awe the citizens were giving the two. Tucking his two hands in his pockets, he yawned.

"Well, dumping the responsibility of being heir on him and saying that it'd be best if he consulted Fugaku-sama because his skills of taking over the clan is lacking, making it impossible for him to follow us because of his enormous ambition… it's not really nice, is it?" He tried to explain, pitying his other friend who they had left behind. _Sorry that I abandoned you, Sasuke_, he thought with irony. He liked to torture him, too, so he understood Itachi a little.

"Sasuke is more suited for it than I ever was." Itachi said, waving casually at a group of ten-year-old girls, making them swoon. _Three enemies eliminated. Good work, myself_, feeling proud. "Not to forget that I get to keep you all for myself, of course," he deliberately spurted out loudly when walking up next to a group of enthusiastical Itachi-fans, making them stiffen and open their eyes wide; effectively dealing a deadly dose of an unreachable himself to them.

Naruto laughed, as soon they passed them. "How many victims have you faulted this week, Itachi?"

"Don't call them victims. They're prey," he corrected his blonde friend. "It's 57. I suppose I should thank you for the last six, as always. I'll invite you to dinner sometime, mother has been asking for you lately."

"Oh, that'd be nice. Mikoto-san's cooking are the best!" Naruto excluded, feeling a bit cheery. Tapping Itachi slightly on the shoulder to get his attention, he said: "Tell her that I'd be more than happy to join you," smiling, and then turning left with his companion, entering the hot-spring _Meitou_.

After they had taken off their clothes and wrapped their waists with towels, they headed to the baths.

Itachi wasn't perverted. And he wasn't interested in girls (or guys for that matter), but he refused to visit a hot-spring that was gender-split. Always public baths, joined ones. Naruto figured it was one of those annoying things you just _had_ to do, _had_ to obey, no matter how unnecessary or brain-squashing they were. Like locking your door three times, repeatedly saying goodnight, can't eat without the chopsticks on the top of the bowl… things like that. Naruto wasn't a pervert either, not like his ex-teacher… wherever that erotic-obsessed hermit was.

"Pff, what's a snooty brat like you doing here?" A female voice said. _Anko… of all places… _"Peeping on women beyond your reach, you pathetic worm?"

"None o' your business, and no," he answered the purple-haired kunoichi, who was located in the hot-spring, glaring at him. Sitting down: "Now, let's see… if my memory serves me right, Orochimaru-sensei didn't taught you to summon the gate of _Rashomon_. Is that correct? Gotta check, you know, in case I gotta save his ass, and you're unable to." He snickered. It was so obvious to anyone that he was prepared for these arguments.

Anko fumed, but before she could retort, a red-haired girl snapped. "Shut up, fuckers, you're ruining my day off."

"SHUT IT, TAYUYA!" The two other exclaimed.

Anko spoke up directly afterwards. "You've got nothing on us; can't even touch us, snotnosed brat!"

"And your opinion doesn't even MATTER! I can't believe Orochimaru-sensei gave you that shitty old flute, but I guess it suits you, you fucking maniac," Naruto said, getting worked up, looking ready to devour ANYTHING thrown in his way.

Now, any _normal_ person wouldn't argue the least with Tayuya of Orochimaru's Five. And any _sane_, let alone _life-loving_, _peacemaking_ person wouldn't call her a maniac. "Wh-what did you say, you damn bastard! My three _Doki_'s, my flute and the _Genbusou Kyoku_ could kick your fancy asses over to the fucking _Mist_'s!" She held her hands against his throat, trying to strangle him. He gasped for air, like he had done in the morning with the puppeteer, but this was far worser.

Then a skinny sick-looking arm shoot out from the water below, and grabbed Tayuya's left arm. She stiffened up. Then another creepy arm shoot out from the water too, and grabbed _Naruto_'s right arm, which was trying to stop the maniac's left arm from killing him. He stiffened, and he felt dread. Not the kind of dread Tayuya or Kankuro could inflict in him; this got him horrified. His eyes searched for help from Tayuya, but he noticed that she, too, had that same look of helplessness in her. There was no way fingers could be that cold, not in a fucking hot-spring!

They slowly turned their sights to where the source of the arms was. All they saw was the pair of arms, and bubbles rising to the surface. Then the water got darker and darker, freaking the two out. But they couldn't move; they couldn't even scream, they were that terrified. Then… out of the water… a head ascended…

Naruto screamed; they both screamed. "AAAAAH, Hayate is going to kill us, kill us, he's going to eat us!" Hayate looked… well, like Hayate.

"You're scaring the sharks," and coughed. "Will you…" Cough, "stop fighting?" … Cough.

They looked like they were about to cry, and nodded eagerly. He then appeared to be thinking for about two seconds, then let go. They quickly swam/waded to Anko, who along with Itachi just had sat there observing, and fell into her arms, sobbing.

Naruto: "Hayate, he…" Sniff.

Tayuya: "He, he…" Sniff, sniff.

Both: "He tried to kill us, Anko-senpaaai!" And they burst out crying on her chest.

Which peeved her off.

"Get off, get off!" She mentioned. "These two _big babies_ of mine isn't for you to use as pillows to run to whenever something scary happens, you no-talent kids!" She pushed them away, and hit them both in the face simultaneously. "What kinds of ninjas are you?" But to be honest, Hayate _was_ pretty creepy, and scared even her.

Naruto, as Tayuya, was tending his broken nose. "Gat dammit, jo didit havv to hitt so haad." Naruto wiped his mouth free from blood that had flowed down from his air-intake, studied the crimson fluid and said: "Haven't seen you around lately, Hayate. And I thank the gods for that…" He mumbled the last part out.

Hayate came up behind him, lay his hands on the blonde's shoulders, and rested his head on the right hand. "The journey to the hot-and-dangerous-without-water-land will be long." Lifted up his head and brought a hand to his mouth and coughed, then returned to the previous settlement. Closing his eyes.

After awhile, Itachi, which had been quite anonymously so-far, deemed the sick shinobi to be asleep, much to the dismay of his blonde brother-in-arms.

* * *

"…so tell me why I'm here again," Naruto said, feeling tired and not really eager to having been called to the meeting. He moaned. 

"What are you, deaf? Didn't you hear what he said the first time?" Namiashi Raido let out, feeling irritated. Raido was a creature that had been created solely to tease and mock Uzumaki Naruto. He had decided that from the first moment he saw him – he was so. fucking. fun. to make fun of. He was _hilarious_, a real gift from above, Raido used to think.

But no-one thought like him. Naruto wasn't a funny guy.

"Three words, son; Chuunin-exam, you, examiner, next week, the Sand." His glare pointed at his son sharpened to that of a _lethal spear_. "And you better be there."

Naruto couldn't take his father seriously. He had _never_ done that; it was absurd. All his old man seemed to be doing, was screwing around. Screwing around too much. With things that didn't really matter. And he thought he was _funny_, too. Naruto had a hard time figuring out when his father joked or not – despite having lived with him for the good part of his life. He was hard to read – but then again, Naruto didn't understand most people.

So, when he excluded coldly that "he'd better be there", Naruto wasn't too sure whether to take that to heart, or if it was another lame… whatever you could call it. But he answered, all right, in a way that just _couldn't_ be misinterpreted. "_I understand_, Hokage-sama."

Then, after the meeting was adjourned, he heard the Hokage complain about a "sick'n'weird peep" not showing up.

But Naruto knew elsewise. _You didn't notice him, did you? Father…_ And chuckled his way out.

**Authors notes**  
I decided to stop being lazy and actually check the reviews. I've had this chapter finished for months, so here it is. Don't know when the next chapter is going to come out, but I won't abandon it. :) Thanks for all the positive reactions.


	4. Chapter 03

**Chapter 03**

Half-Asleep

by

ensngre

* * *

Naruto woke up early. He usually did. He _always_ did. He wasn't quite sure why… but he reckoned that it was an old habit from the War. _The War, huh… _The War hadn't been easy on anyone. But he wouldn't start pondering about it now, it'd only drag him down. 

His alarm-clock showed 03:07AM. He groaned, only having slept for five hours. Turning to lie on his back again, he stretched his arms and legs as far away he could, and let out a loooong yawn. Clenching the blanket with his left, he pulled it off him, and got into a sitting position off the side of the bed.

Groggily, he got up and made his way to his closet. Opening it, he grabbed his green Jounin-vest, a pair of long-legged _black_ trousers, a _black_ shirt and some clean underwears. Not socks, he never wore socks. After that, he walked out into the corridoor of his and his father's massive house, to the showerroom. Dressing off, he grungily stepped into the shower and let the water wash away the yesterday.

Feeling new and clean, he opened the door to the shower, took a white towel and started dry himself. Then, putting on his nice boxers and black trousers, he paused for awhile to look himself in the mirror. _Naruto, Naruto…_ he muttered in his mind. _I don't understand you._ That was the usual procedure he did every morning, not gaining an inch closer to realizing what and who he was.

He looked over to the black shirt, lying on top of a chair. He reached out with his hand, misjudged the distance, moved closer, and put it on. The sleeves of the shirt nearly reached his knees, but he liked that. His hands felt protected. He loved his hands (not like _that_, perverted readers). There was but three, maybe four shirts he possessed that had normal-sized sleeves. The rest was like the one he had on. Excluding his massive collection of tee-shirts, of course…

Continuing with dressing up, he felt the thick Jounin-vest under his thumbs, idly fingering it. Then he put it aside again, and walked toward the white cabinet. He opened it, searched for two rolls of bandages, and sat down on the chair that the shirt had been lying on. Swaddling his ankles with the cloth, he relaxed and leaned to the back, the chair supporting him.

After fifteen minutes, he abruptly got up and grabbed his vest, and put it on while making his way downstairs. He had never carried a head-protector in his life and wasn't about to begin.

* * *

"Ho, doggies," Naruto walked up to and greeted Shiranui Genma and the scary Gekko Hayate, carrying a bowl of steaming ramen. The clock was now about 06:00AM, and one hour until their designated meetings at the western gate were to occur. "What are you up to?" 

"Going to pick up the passports," Genma answered, playing with the senbon in his mouth. It was just a matter of time before he swallowed one, Naruto thought. "Tag along?"

"Uh, sure," Naruto complied his senior, and started eating from his bowl. _Ahh, Ichiraku…_

After they had picked up the passports, the hour had passed relatively fast for the three. No conversations were made between them; Genma had a laid-back attitude and rarely talked (which reminded him of Itachi), Hayate wasn't very talkative either and he himself wasn't in the mood for it. But that was nice, just being.

Then, at 07:00AM sharp, they got to the western gate, finding the four teams that were the participants in the upcmoing Chuunin-exam, along with their respective teachers. Upon noticing the three Jounin's, most of the twelve Genins started talking between each other, casting glances at the shorter of the blondes. Naruto had stopped wondering how large the extent of his reputation was years ago.

"We were afraid you wouldn't turn up," a voice adressed them, especially to the only one of the three new-arrivals that wasn't a special-Jounin; Naruto. The voice belonged to Namiashi Raido. _This will be a long journey indeed, Hayate…_

He decided to put him to place. "You've been here for some time already?" Naruto asked. "You're not teaching them to be punctional? In war, arriving a minute too soon or a minute too late can mean death." He lectured. What he got in return was a fuming Raido, and some 'ooh's coming from the Genins.

Hanabi's team was there. Hanabi, Ibara, Utatane… and their teacher Zetsu.

Zetsu was a Hyuuga. And it was no coincidence that the younger sister to the heir of that clan had been appointed with a white-eyed teacher. Zetsu was talented, but cared little of ranks and the split between the Main- and the Branch-family. Sure, the Juin Jutsu had been nullified by none other than the Fuuin-expert Naruto. And even on the request of Hiashi-sama himself, having realized that it _didn't_ bring the clan together. But some scars lay deep…

"Well, let's not get stuck here any longer," Genma said and set out, jumping to the trees. Naruto and Hayate jumped after, and were shortly joined by the four Jounin-teachers and their students, who were lagging behind. Naruto glanced slightly backwards, to Hanabi, and found her talking to some from the other teams. Returning his glance forward, he joined the conversation with the Jounins.

* * *

Sitting down in the temporary camp they had made for the night, he looked around him. The sixteen Genins were all asleep, and his eyes fell onto the one he loved. She lay curled up, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, with her deep-black hair spread over the white pillow. 

They were responsible for their own package, and carried backpacks. They were big, yes, but they could only hold a matress, blanket and a pillow. Naruto hadn't brought one with him, only having a pouch on his left hip. He didn't need anything else, bedwear had been an unnecessary luxury in the War. Sleeping clad with a blanket outdoors only made him feel insecure.

He noticed that the white-eyed beauty had pulled her blanket over her head, and now her legs and shoes showed, being unprotected against the cold. So he got up, walked over to her sleeping form, and corrected the cloth covering her. She champed a little, and whispered out his name in the night, still sleeping. Naruto smiled at her solemnly, and turned back to his place when he heard Zetsu wake up.

"I'll take the watch, you go to sleep, Naruto-san," he said.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not a good sleeper… don't worry about me. Besides," he added, "I don't want to miss this. The night is wonderful…" The camp-fire crackled a bit. He turned his sight up to the dark-blue sky. The stars were impossible to see, because of the light the fire radiated.

"In that case, I'll keep you company," got up, and sat next to the blonde. Commented, "these Genins sure have easy lives, haven't they? If this was during the War, they would've already killed…" He drifted.

"Yeah…" Naruto absently answered, drowning in reminiscence again. Snapping up, he said: "You think you can take the watch? I need to sleep…"

Zetsu chuckled. "Heh, of course. Sleep tight, Naruto-san."

"Thank you," and proceeded to sleep. _Goodnight, Mother…_ Seconds later, a light snoring could be heard in the camp.

* * *

Naruto woke up early. He usually did. He _always_ did. He wasn't quite sure why… but he reckoned that it was an old habit from the War.The War hadn't been easy on anyone. But he wouldn't start pondering about it now, it'd only drag him down. 

Something felt _wrong_. Opened up his eyes, he was greeted by the crowns of the trees surrounding him. Stretching his arms and legs, as he always did, he sat up.

No-one was there. The small grove was empty, the only sign of the previous camp was the branches they had burned yesterday, which had now turned into charcoal. Fortunately for Naruto, it still steamed, and when he checked with his hand, was still warm.

Naruto growled. _Fuckers…_ And then he screamed, to no-one in particular. "They left without me!"

* * *

"Hahahaha!" Raido laughed out. It had been his idea to leave the blonde behind, and he was proud of that. Of course, it hadn't come without a price – he had lied to his comrades, saying that they should leave him so that he could get a decent sleep – but it was all worth it. It was always worth sacrifices when it came to him. Lying hurt him, but hell, everything for a good laugh. 

Genma and Raido's team sweatdropped, and sighed with their heads down. They should've known they were tricked into leaving their comrade behind. Genma almost felt guilty. But he knew that his blonde friend would catch up to them as soon as he woke up, being that fast. He looked for signs of the Hiraishin no Jutsu.

"Raaaaidoooo…!" They heard something growling behind them, almost roaring. Then came a black shadow and threw the face-scarred Jounin down to ground, and followed after. They were about to stop, but Genma stopped them, saying that they would lose time. So they continued jumping forward, ignoring the screams of terror being shifted into attacks of laughter.

After awhile, a battered blue-clothed Jounin came into view, with Naruto on his right. Adding more chakra to their feets, they bounded over the awed Genins and the annoyed Jounins, and took the lead of the group. Lingering an arm over the shorter, Raido said: "Now, _that_ was some fun I haven't had in a long time."

Naruto hunched his right arm over the scarred nin's shoulder, and agreed. "I guess you're okay at times, Raido." Lowering his voice into threatening, he added, "but don't do it again. I'll kill you." Raido just laughed, and the group sighed.

* * *

"Please show your passports, participants," the guard of the southeastern entrance of the Sand said. Naruto came up from behind the group and spoke up. 

"Long time, no see, Yuura," and did a small nod toward the older Sand-nin. He recognized the blonde.

"Naruto-sama! You're training a team of Genins?" He asked, obviously surprised by the apperance of the long-sleeved shinobi.

"Nah, I got invited to be an examiner, along with Genma-san and Hayate-san here," he mentioned to the senbon-chewing and the sick-looking nin. Then, he smirked, saying: "I heard you got elected to the counsil."

Yuura perked up, a proud smile plastered on his face. "So you heard. Chiyo-sama recommended me, actually," now almost grinning. "Well, we won't hold you up for any longer. Passports aren't needed. Please step in, Chuunin-participants, examiners," stepped aside and mentioned with his hand to the narrow path behind him, the only road through the massive wall made of sand. Naruto bed farewell, and went after the group, long-sleeved arms vertically hanging downward.

After finding the right hotel they would stay at for the coming weeks, Naruto growled to the receptionist. "What do you mean, you 'only have four empty rooms'? We booked five! We're here for the exam!" He exalted and flung his arms up.

"B-but sir, even if I wanted to, I can't get another room… we're fullbooked. The exam'll be public, you know…?" He asked weakly, fearing the blonde a little. The Leaf's were famous for being easy to handle, but this one were apparently not.

"Easy, Naruto," Genma said. "It's no big deal; you, me and Hayate just have to split up and share the rooms with the teams. Isn't that right, Hayate?" he asked the weird fellow, which responded with a simple 'mmh'.

Naruto snorted. "Alright, alright…" Turning to the Genins, he decided to play them a joke. "So," fingering with his hands under the sleeves 'nervously', "who'll take me in…?" The boys just stared and the girls became flushed. Hanabi became light-headed.

Zetsu answered to his call pretty fast. "You'll stay with us."

Naruto gave a short nod of acknowledgement, catched the key Genma throwed him with his sleeves, and proceeded to go up the stairs with the rest following after.

Stepping into the room, he quickly scanned it and went to sit down by the window. It was really simple; only one, big room. Big enough to fit five persons, that is. _Good thing I'm skinny_, he chuckled.

Later that evening, Naruto announced to his team-mates that he was about to go on a tour in the village. Ibara had chose to tag along, and a (for them, no apparent reason) grumpy Hanabi had stayed behind with the rest of her team.

One thing the girl noticed was, that even though they were so far away from their home, people noticed the blonde, in some ways or the other. Most of them gave him looks of awe and such, but some were also of hate, resentness – the drawback of being that well-known was that whatever you did, you always had enemies. It was impossible to be liked of all, even for one who gave mightier impressions than the Sannins. She felt somewhat sorry for him, but he didn't seem to acknowledge either of the looks he was given. Not that he ignored them.

"So, is this your first time to the Sand, Ibara-kun?" He asked, glancing at the pre-teen girl. He almost never got in contact with shinobi's of lower ranks, not since the war. It wasn't a concious decision, it just never happened. Understandanble, he was curious how the lives of the new Genin's was – if they got to travel a lot, for example.

But she nodded shyly. _Damn, being a Genin in these times of peace must really suck… _But he didn't wish the time he had as a Genin on anyone. And this place bringed forth bad memories of him making three siblings orphans. It had been one of his worst missions and remembered it clearly as yesterday, even though he had barely been ten years old at the time. "The only places I've been to outside Konoha is the Mist… probably…" And she blushed, the feelings of excitement and embarrassment contradicting each other. She was inside one of the Five Major Villages, one she'd never been to before, for crying out loud!

Naruto yawned, breaking the silence that had been in the air for mintues. It was starting to get dark, now. "We better head back, soon it's going to get cold. Don't want you to catch a cold right before the exams, would we?" He smirked toward the shorter girl. She agreed.

On the way to the hotel, she asked him a question. "Do you love Hanabi?" Ahh, what a lovely day it would've been if she didn't bring _her_ up. He almost blamed Hanabi herself for mere existing, but he knew better.

A long time passed, and she wasn't sure that he'd answer anymore. "Well, it's a bit complicated… but yeah… I guess," and that was as close as he would get to a confession. "But I keep doubting whether or not she loves me back." _Well, you've opened the windows, Naruto_, he thought to himself. _To a complete stranger, at that. I'm getting rusty._

Now he got irritated at himself, like so many times before. He knew she loved him, but why did he keep doubting that? Was he going insane? Or did he want attention from others that badly? Nah. Naruto seriously doubted that. It was probably a part of his evil self-loathing. He mentally sighed.

"…she does! I know she does," she exclaimed. _Wasn't that a bit too enthusiastic? Why are you so eager about this? _"Some may not notice it, but I do. I've been on the same team as her for almost two years, so I know. She relax whenever you're around, and she needs you. I think I now know why she gets so dull at times, it's because she haven't spoken to you in a while," she said and started laughing about her weird team-mate. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't imagine the Hyuuga expressing love. But she must've been very good at it, to capture a hunch such as him.

Ibara didn't believe in real love. All it took to get a guy was being beautiful, and be a damn good actor. Well, that's what she thought, at least, having no idea of the real world.

Naruto sighed. He didn't need to know that. But he was grateful, he guessed.

Now, they had gone to bed and all slept. Naruto didn't. He estimated that if he got any sleep at all that night, it would be three hours top. Because somehow he had ended up in the bed next to Hanabi, lying awfully close in the small room.

But it wasn't that bad. He didn't mind. He felt content with it. Looking up at the white roof above him, occasionly stealing glances at the clear midnight-sky outside the window, with it's shining stars. But all of that paled in comparasion with the one lying next to him.

She snuggled closer, still asleep, rested her head on his chest and let her left arm drape across his stomach. He got that feeling he had when he was with Hanabi, stronger than ever, and against all his assumptions, he fell asleep.

**Authors notes**

Oh, I do know that Zetsu most probably isn't a Hyuuga. But it's an AU story, hey? And by the way, more fluff next chapter. 


End file.
